Ranchi, Oct 6 (PTI) Activists of Jharkhand Congress and its youth wing on Tuesday scuffled with the police as they tried to break through barricades during their demonstration outside the CEO’s office here demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.
As they failed to barge into the premises, the agitators blackened the official name board of the commission.
Hundreds of workers of the Congress and its youth wing took out a march from near the Old Assembly premises, and it culminated at the office of the chief electoral officer (CEO) in Dhurwa.
Agitators carrying placards raised slogans like “Where will you find the vote thief? In the BJP office”, “Gyanesh Kumar Resign” and “Vote thief, vacate your seat of power”.
“People of the country have prepared a chargesheet against the CEC. Allegations against the CEC are enough for a person holding a constitutional post to resign,” former Union minister Subodh Kant Sahay said.
“People across the country are looking for Gyanesh Kumar, asking where the traitor has fled. This is happening because he worked to snatch the voting rights of citizens of this country. The CEC has murdered democracy through SIR,” state Youth Congress president Kumar Gaurav said.
This protest seeks to give voice to the last individual who is making rounds of offices with their certificates to get their names enrolled in the voter list, he said.
“Democracy is being murdered… Two other members of the Election Commission had raised questions on Gyanesh Kumar’s style of working, but now irregularities committed by him have come out,” Congress Ranchi Mahanagar president Kumar Raja said.
The entire electoral system cannot be transparent until the CEC resigns, he said, adding the party will continue its struggle.
Meanwhile, BJP’s state general Secretary Amar Kumar Bauri alleged that the opposition parties were misleading people of the country about every institution and every issue, creating confusion among the citizens over the SIR.
“They are pushing youth forward with their false narratives to serve their political interests,” he alleged.
The Supreme Court dismissed the opposition’s plea seeking the CEC’s dismissal, he said.
“If elections not fair, as they allege, the ruling party in states such as Karnataka and Telangana should quit,” Bauri said.
The Congress is in power in the two states in south India.
The protests came after an Indian Express report claimed that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had objected on record at least 14 times over the last 10 months to decisions and orders they said were issued without their knowledge, even as the nationwide rollout of the SIR was under the supervision of the full commission. PTI RPS RPS ACD
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